Worrals Carries On/plot
Chapter One: Worrals is Suspicious Flying Officer Leon Joudrier, a Belgian pilot newly posted to Worrals' "N" Squadron is more than 2 hours coming back from a mission over France. Examining his Reliant aircraft, Worrals is surprised that to find a leaf of scented geranium. This does not grow in the open in Britain, suggesting that Joudrier must have landed somewhere in France. Worrals gets some petrol from the Reliant's tanks--it has a yellow tinge such as is found in German fuel, not the bluish tinge common in what is used by the British. Chapter Two: In Town That Night Worrals and Frecks spot Joudrier leaving the station so they decide to follow him. He goes into London and enters the Green Parrot Club in Soho. The two girls have no intention of entering the insalubrious dance hall but the air raid sirens go off and they find themselves bundled by the police into the club which is also an air raud shelter. There is a moment of tension when Joudrier sees them. He moves towards them but then the lights fails. The all clear sounds and Worrals and Frecks file out of the place, taking care to avoid being found by Joudrier. Outside, Worrals spots Joudrier talking to another man and she decides to follow them. They head for the river and then cross to the opposite bank in a boat. Worrals and Frecks follow in another boat and end up in the Bonanzo Ice Cream factory, set in a warehouse. Inside a room, some people are talking in Italian. Suddenly a shot is fired. People run out of the room. Frecks makes a run for it but gets separated from Worrals in the darkness. Chapter Three: A Dark Night The warehouse seems deserted again so Frecks re-enters and meets up with Worrals again. They decide to make for their boat and get away as soon as possible but a man stops them and handcuffs them. He turns out to be Major Gray, a British counter-intelligence officer. Worrals decides to trust him and tell him about her suspicions of Joudrier and the geranium she found on the aircraft. It turns out Grey was also watching the ice cream factory but for a different man, all apparently part of a spy ring. He tells them Joudrier may be the link between enemy operatives in Britain and overseas. He asks them to keep an eye on Joudrier. Chapter Four: Flying Blind On the way back to their station, Worrals and Frecks encounter Joudrier by the road. He says he has a flat tyre. While Worral is helping him with the tyre change, Joudrier pointedly asks what Worrals was doing in the Green Parrot Club and doesn't seem very reassured to hear her explanation that they got there by accident because of the air raid. The next day, Worrals and Frecks are rostered to take an old Reliant back to the depot at Ragworth. The weather is steadily getting worse when they spot Joudrier's Reliant heading south and follow it. A Messerschmitt Me 109 appears but sheers off when Joudrier fires a red flare. The two girls then see a black and white message streamer fall from his aircraft. The same Messerschmitt spots Worrals and Frecks but they evade it by plunging down into the fogbank. This reprieve is only momentary--the engine then packs up. They are losing height but still the fogbank persists and they can't see the ground. At the very last minute the air clears and Worrals makes a landing in a field. They get out and ask a passing girl where they are and are stunned to learn that they are in France! They must have drifted over because Worrals did not take sufficient account of the wind. Chapter Five: In France Worrals and Frecks try to find the Reliant again but get lost in the poor visibility. Eventually they make their way to an estaminet in the village of St Vance where by chance the barmaid is the same girl they met earlier on the road and whom they will later learn is named Suzette. Some German officers come in and they are joined by a civilian carrying Joudrier's black/white message bag. It's the man they saw with Joudrier at the Green Parrot Club! Now the girls are trapped as they can't get to the exit without being seen by him and he might recognise them. A French peasant sits near to them and tells them quietly to take a back exit through the cloakroom and then wait by the church porch. He joins them there and takes them inside the church. Chapter Six: Friends in the Crypt The peasant introduces himself as "Captain Charles", He takes them down to the crypt where Father Giraldus the curé had hidden a dozen British soldiers and airmen, troops who got cut off from Dunkirk and who couldn't get home. Worrals has an idea. If one of the airmen can fix her engine, he could go back with her and Frecks. She also promises to come back to rescue the rest. Tim Jones, an R.A.F. fitter, volunteers, and Father Giraldus, who knows the way, leads the group back to the aircraft. Nearing the Reliant, they hear, through the fog, voices speaking in German. Tim scouts and reports only one German soldier guarding the plane. The other must have gone off to summon help. Tim knocks him out and begins to fix the engine. It's a tense few hours. Just as he is finishing, there are shouts in the distance. The German troops are returning and looking for the man Tim had knocked out. Father Giraldus pretends to be the soldier and shouts answers, leading the Germans away. Tim completes the repairs but the fog lifts and they are seen. Worrals starts the engines and they take off just in time with German troops converging on them. Chapter Seven: Worrals Keeps a Promise Back at base, Worrals reports to Squadron Leader McNavish. She is surprised to find Major Gray there. He tells her to report the full story. Events had moved swiftly and he has had to take the C.O. into his confidence. He has raided the Green Parrot Dance Hall and Bonanzo factory and caught most of the spies. But Joudrier and the man he was talking to were not among them. The latter Worrals had seen at St Vance so he must have parachuted over. Joudrier had gone on leave. McNavish is not keen on Worrals' promise to go back to rescue the British troops hiding in St Vance. But Tim Jones was from his squadron during the Battle of France, and he is pleased the airman has come back. Tim tells McNavish that two more of their squadron mates, Paxton and Hilton, are among the refugees. The C.O. is swayed and agrees to get permission from higher up for the mission. Chapter Eight: Parachute Jump The mission is approved. Bill Ashton will fly over to France where Worrals will drop into St Vance by parachute to gather the refugees. He would then come back a few hours later and land on her signal to pick them up. Frecks, of course, is not to be left behind and gets to go along after a brief argument with McNavish. The drop is executed without incident and the girls make their way to the church. In the darkness they hear Joudrier's voice! He is discussing with another German his suspicion of Captain Charles. They plan to watch him to see what he and Father Giraldus are up to. Chapter Nine: Captain Charles is Warned At all costs, Worrals must warn Charles, whom she sees entering the estaminet. So she enters the cafe by the back way she used earlier. She prepares a message on a ball of paper and, from behind a curtain in the cafe, flicks it over to him. Leaving the cafe by the back way, Worrals meets a group of German stormtroopers but she convinces them that she is just the barmaid. From a distance, she overhears Joudrier coming out to talk to the soldiers. These soldiers had just arrived and had left their lorry in the village square. Joudrier tells them to remain out of sight but to run to him when he blows his whistle. From the fuse box, Worrals puts the lights of the care out, allowing Captain Charles to leave the cafe and avoid the German trap. He meets Worrals and Frecks and takes them to the back of the church into the house of Father Giraldus. Chapter Ten: A Terrible Decision Worrals and Frecks meet the British troops and brief them about their escape plan but ow the Father turns up with bad news: Suzette has been arrested. She had attempted ot steal the message bag which Joudrier had dropped. But unfortunately she had been caught with the message streamer. Now she is in the estaminet with Joudrier and his friend, waiting for Captain Charles to turn up. Chapter Eleven: Challenge to Storm Troopers Worrals and the others are determined not to leave without her. She asks Father Giraldus to bring Joudrier and his friend to the church, tempting them by saying that Captain Charles is there. Joudrier falls for this, and turns up with his friend and Suzette. The British soldiers set upon the two Germans and soon have them tied up. With their lives already in danger, Father Giraldus, Captain Charles and Suzette all agree to join the refugees British troops and fly to England. But time is pressing and they are late for their rendezvous with Bill Ashton's aircraft. Worrals remembers what she heard about the lorry in the village square. She takes Joudrier's whistle and blows it in a side lane near the square, summoning all the German soldiers away so that she can steal the lorry. With the lorry, they get to the landing field just in time. Bill lands the Havelock troop carrier and they pile on board. German storm troopers are approaching but Tim Jones is manning the aircraft guns and he holds the Germans off, and they manage to take off safely. Chapter Twelve: Operations Completed Joudrier and his friend from the Green Parrot Dance Hall are handed over to the British authorities. The others celebrate their return to England and ply Worrals and Frecks with gifts. The two girls also receive a letter from the Air Council commending them for their courage, skill and devotion to duty. Category:Plot summaries